Fueling Growth

Accelerence: Fueling Growth Blog

In reading the article “More Founders Reject VC Money”, I found that the phenomenon it presented is clearly a reality in the Southeast. The article spells out so many of the contributing factors – lower start up costs, changing VC ecosystem, etc. Most importantly what I’ve seen is the aha that it’s okay to create “just” a $10M business or have a $20M exit.

Cultural lessons of excess success from the twin bubbles of the last decade have led to different beliefs in success. Starting and running a business that serves customers admirably well, generates a profit and the potential for some kind of exit is fulfilling in itself. You don’t have to win the equivalent of an Olympic Gold Medal to be successful in life. As a consequence more entrepreneurs are looking for infusions of advice, connections and community to help them grow vs. infusions of capital.